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Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest open space deep in the Peruvian jungle when he heard sounds approaching through the dense woodland.

It dawned on him that he stood surrounded, and halted.

“A single individual stood, pointing with an projectile,” he states. “Somehow he detected I was here and I commenced to escape.”

He ended up confronting the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a neighbor to these itinerant people, who shun interaction with strangers.

A recent report by a human rights organization claims there are at least 196 termed “remote communities” in existence globally. This tribe is thought to be the largest. The report states 50% of these communities could be wiped out in the next decade should administrations neglect to implement additional measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the biggest dangers stem from logging, mining or exploration for crude. Remote communities are extremely susceptible to common sickness—as such, the study says a threat is caused by exposure with proselytizers and digital content creators seeking attention.

In recent times, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to residents.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing community of seven or eight clans, sitting atop on the edges of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest, half a day from the closest town by canoe.

The area is not classified as a protected area for remote communities, and logging companies work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the racket of heavy equipment can be noticed day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest disrupted and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are conflicted. They fear the tribal weapons but they also possess profound regard for their “brothers” dwelling in the jungle and want to safeguard them.

“Permit them to live as they live, we must not alter their culture. That's why we maintain our space,” explains Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of aggression and the possibility that deforestation crews might subject the tribe to diseases they have no defense to.

During a visit in the community, the Mashco Piro made their presence felt again. Letitia, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she detected them.

“We detected shouting, sounds from others, a large number of them. As though it was a large gathering shouting,” she shared with us.

It was the initial occasion she had encountered the tribe and she fled. Subsequently, her head was still throbbing from anxiety.

“As exist loggers and companies destroying the forest they are fleeing, maybe out of fear and they end up near us,” she said. “We are uncertain what their response may be towards us. That's what scares me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the group while fishing. One man was struck by an projectile to the abdomen. He survived, but the second individual was located dead after several days with nine arrow wounds in his physique.

Authorities in Peru maintains a strategy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, rendering it prohibited to start interactions with them.

The policy originated in Brazil after decades of lobbying by community representatives, who observed that initial exposure with remote tribes lead to entire communities being wiped out by sickness, hardship and starvation.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in Peru first encountered with the world outside, a significant portion of their people died within a few years. A decade later, the Muruhanua tribe faced the identical outcome.

“Secluded communities are very at risk—epidemiologically, any contact could spread diseases, and including the simplest ones could wipe them out,” explains an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “In cultural terms, any contact or disruption could be extremely detrimental to their existence and well-being as a group.”

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